WORCESTER – At one point during Saturday afternoon’s Division 3 state championship game, Kevin Brogioli turned around to look at his father, Jim, amongst the several thousand gathered in the DCU Center to support his Wareham Vikings. He said he saw tears in the old man’s eyes.

Both father and son had been here before, of course. Kevin was a JV call-up riding the bench for Jim during the Vikings’ run to the state final. And yesterday it came full-circle, with Kevin’s cast of run-and-gunners blowing out New Leadership Charter, 80-57, for the school’s first state title in any sport.

“It was nice to see he was in the stands tonight,” Brogioli said. “I told the kids before the game, ‘You guys win it for you and us, because we’ve all worked hard, and I’m gonna win this one for my dad’.”

Senior Jordan Rezendes (21 points) called it “the best feeling of my life – words can’t describe it.” Junior guard Jules Tavares (25), a Division 1 prospect who threw down two thunderous one-handed dunks, called it “Amazing. There’s no feeling (that’s) better.”

This one was historic on multiple fronts. Most of the season, senior Pat Murphy cut his teeth doing the dirty work in the shadow the likes of Tavares, Rezendes and senior center Ryan Pina (10 points, 17 rebounds). But with the game in hand by the fourth quarter, the Vikings began running almost all of their sets through Murphy, who needed just 10 points to reach 1,000 for his career and had none in the first half.

Murphy finally got his 1,000th with under two minutes to go, with a ball fake and up and under layup. Play stopped as the team mobbed him at center court and hoisted him on his shoulders for a brief moment, while the crowd cheered loudly.

The senior joins Rezendes and Tavares on the list of Vikings to eclipse the mark this season.

“It’s just amazing,” beamed Murphy, who finished with 11 points. “I definitely heard the whole crowd.”

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Review the chat session held during the Division 3 boys basketball championship at the DCU Center in Worcester in the frame below.

It's Wareham (24-1) vs. New Leadership (22-3).

Here are the projected starting lineups for today:

Wareham
G - Darren Gray, 5-10 Sr.
G - Jules Tavares, 6-3 Jr.
G - Jordan Rezendes, 6-1 Sr.
F - Patrick Murphy, 5-11 Jr.
F - Ryan Pina, 6-3 Sr.

New Leadership
G - Eric Brown, 5-10 Sr.
G - Phillip Warrick, 5-10 Sr.
G - Tyrell Springer, 5-11 Soph.
F - Anthony Taylor, 6-2 Jr.
F - DeVonte Vanderpool, 6-3 Sr.